TrialMan Challenge – Day 8

At the end of Day 7, I left Nazuga, who had been transformed into a bat, hovering over a bed at the end of a long day. His adventure through the TrialMan Challenge continues with Day 8.

After a very long, and restful, sleep, Nazuga awoke. He was delighted to discover that he was still in the form of a bat. Something about being transformed made him feel as though he was a powerful Mage. Today was going to be a great day!

Nazuga went for a relaxing flight through the fields. Someday, he thought to himself, I must find a way to be able to fly whenever I wish to.

He marveled at how much easier it was to cross a field when he didn’t have to plow through long, tangled grass. He tried to figure out what type of spell this was, and who might be able to teach him how to cast it.

The joy was short-lived. Nazuga, lost in thought, didn’t notice the Plainsland Cheetah until it struck him. As he crashed to the ground, he realized he had lost his bat form. Angered by this abrupt loss, Nazuga fought the big cat.

What’s this? Nazuga picked up the shiny, golden colored cloth he found on the ground. He unfolded it, and scratched his head. Why was this large cat carrying around a pair of pants?

Confused, Nazuga stopped and evaluated the quality of the shiny pants. They appeared to be in much better shape than the pants he was currently wearing. He worried that the badly sewn patches in the knees would fall apart any minute. If only the new pants weren’t such a flashy color. Hesitatingly, Nazuga decided to try on the pants he’d found.

He felt incredibly foolish wearing the shiny gold pants! Sighing, Nazuga realized that he had little choice except to wear them. Gold pants were better than pants that fall apart mid-battle, after all.

He desperately hoped that he would find a high quality robe soon. Nazuga decided that he strongly preferred robes. They were more comfortable than pants (from both a physical and emotional standpoint). Today was not so good after all!

His plans to spend the day flying were dashed. So, Nazuga set out to try and finish the quest he had been given as a new recruit. After studying the map for a long time, Nazuga realized he needed to go around the nearby mountain range. Somewhere on the other side were the Razormanes, and their leader, whom he was supposed to kill.

He started walking, grumbling about how long it would take to get there without being able to fly. To his surprise, he was not bored. There were many strange sights to see.

A wonderful smell wafted across the field. Nazuga stopped, sniffed the air, and looked around. It was coming from that building over there! Curious, he decided to investigate. The smell wasn’t meat, so… what was it?

The lovely smell turned out to be freshly baked bread. Nazuga met Targen Heartgrain, a talented baker. He stopped to chat with him for a moment.

Inside the building was a young Orc boy named Gruk….

…and his two fathers, Grub and Duhng. Both were talented cooks. Nazuga spent a few moments watching them prepare a meal.

“I can teach you many recipes.” Duhng told Nazuga. If you have time, I can train you to become an Apprentice Chef.” Nazuga smiled. He briefly explained the quest he was on, and promised to return another time.

Walking away, Nazuga smiled to himself. There was no doubt in his mind that Gruk would grow up big and strong. His fathers surely would feed him well! Perhaps he would become a great Warrior. Nazuga looked forward to returning to this peaceful place to learn how to cook from two smart Orcs who accepted him, shiny pants and all.

After a lot more walking, Nazuga came upon the cave he was supposed to find. His job was to kill more Razormanes, and then to kill their leader, Kreening Snarlsnout. He hesitated, gathering the courage to begin this battle. So far, his luck with Razormanes was not good. The last thing he wanted was to see the Spirit Healer again!

A whispered voice interrupted his focus, breaking “the fourth wall”.

And, now that “the fourth wall” has been broken… I may as well explain what happened. A player named Sikima whispered to Nazuga: “Sorry to bother you, but I’m offering 100 gold for signatures and only require one more; interested?”

Sikma was very polite, but, this posed a problem. The rules of the TrialMan Challenge state that a player cannot /whisper another player (unless the other player /whispers first). This meant I could respond. The problem was that Nazuga could not accept this offer.

So, I /whispered back “I’m doing a TrialMan Challenge, and part of the rules my friends are playing with forbid me to sign guild charters. I’m sorry.” This was a shortened explanation, but it seemed clear enough to Sikima (who did not contact Nazuga after that).

Part of the TrialMan Challenge rules state that you cannot join a guild. If Nazuga signed Sikima’s charter, it would, technically, put him into a guild. The other problem was the gold that was being offered. The rules of the TrialMan Challenge state that you cannot accrue more than 10 gold. Just like that, the entire TrialMan Challenge would have been over (and ended in failure).

…We now return to Nazuga’s adventures through Day 8 of the TrialMan Challenge…

Finally, Nazuga was ready. To his surprise, he found it much easier to kill Razormanes than he expected. This gave him a boost of confidence.

Why won’t this chest open? Nazuga clicked on it, but to no avail. Oh, wait… wrong game. Blinking, Nazuga briefly forgot where he was. He vigorous shook his head, until the delusion he was under left him.

His mind once again clear, Nazuga was ready to seek out Kreening Snarlsnout. Where, in this vast cave, was he? It didn’t take long before the answer was revealed. A voice came echoing down the cavern:

“Come and face me! *snort* I can smell your orc stench from here.”

Nazuga scowled, and placed his hands on his hips. How rude! Between this taunt, and the shiny gold pants, Nazuga had reached his limit of what he could endure. He ran towards the voice, spells ready.

Success!

Suddenly, Nazuga realized something. He’d done it! He finally managed to finish the quest he was given by Kargal Battlescar (shortly after Nazuga got recruited). A smile crossed his face. It wasn’t so difficult after all! Pleased with himself, Nazuga used his Hearthstone…

…and ended up back in Razor Hill. Nazuga /facepalmed. He vowed to change his Hearthstone setting as soon as possible. Razor Hill looked pretty much the same as it did when he last visited. Has the strange magic finally been lifted from this place? It was the first time he’d visited Razor Hill and found it unchanged.

Nazuga had plenty of time to ponder that question as he walked back to Kargal Battlescar at the Far Watch Post. On the way, he decided to go for a swim, and wash some of the “Orc stench” off. He was feeling self-conscious enough from the shiny gold pants.

Finally, Nazuga found his way back to the Far Watch Post. “I have completed the quest you sent me on.”, Nazuga told Kargal Battlescar. It felt good to have that difficult task overwith! Kargal was very pleased with Nazuga’s work, and gave him a new pair of pants as a reward.

Nazuga nodded, somewhat embarrassed. His shiny gold pants were such an eyesore that Kargal Battlescar could not stand to look at them! The new pants were a much more tolerable color, and the material felt very durable.

Nazuga happily put on the new pants. It was immediately obvious that they did not fit very well. Nazuga frowned at the odd, brown, cuffs on these short pants that barely covered his knees. These were not made for Orcs. Nazuga realized.

This would never do! Nazuga considered asking Kargal Battlescar if he happened to have a longer pair of pants in his bag. But, then he realized that Kargal was wearing extremely short “cut-offs”. I guess things could be worse, Nazuga thought.

As soon as possible, Nazuga found a spot to rest in. Grumbling, he put the shiny gold pants back on, deciding they were the lesser of two fashion evils. Kargal Battlescar did not give him any more quests. Maybe Orgrimmar would have some shops that sell nice robes.

Here are Nazuga’s stats at the end of Day 8 of the Trial Man Challenge